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Topic: Cruise to the Cancun. What lenses should I take? (Read 5051 times)

I'll be on a cruise to Cancun for 5 Days and Nights. I'll be expecting friends, family and possibly alot of Stock photo's in the trip. Landscapes, people, places, inside the ship at night and some street. I want to pack light, and perhaps a CR user has been on a cruise before.

5D3

24L50L135L24-105L580 EXII

I was thinking 24-105L + 50L + 580EX II but wondered if I'll really need the 24L for the dark dance floors of the ship. I'm torn.

In case you want to bring only one lens, it should be the 24-105, but since I believe you shoot with primes most of the time, you would sorely miss them, if you would leave them at home. I therefore recommend bringing only the primes.

As for the 135mm I don't think it is long enough to be much useful, when you want to take shots of scenery on the coast. You may want to rent a 70-200mm plus 2x teleconverter, but for what I would be looking for this wouldn't be long enough at all (better to bring in a 400mm prime) or just leave this area alone as others have advised, because overall the potential timeframes for opportunities with such long lenses will be fairly limited and you will have to spend money renting a lens and some effort to make use of such focal length, because you will have to wait for those opportunities (being on deck ready to shoot, before something gets into view, unlike: Oops there went my photo opportunity, no time left to get my gear set up). To be able to make a good judgement regarding the usefulness of long focal length lenses I recommend thoroughly checking the timetable for the ship, so that you will know, if there is already or still sufficient light to take good shots, when the distance to shore would be adequate for a long lens. It won't do you any good to bring a long lens, when the ship approaches the coast mostly whenever it is completely dark, because they want to accommodate people going on land trips and starting early in the morning to make the most of it. In addition to this it would be helpful to find out, how long the ship sits at port, before land excursions are scheduled to start.

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In case you want to bring only one lens, it should be the 24-105, but since I believe you shoot with primes most of the time, you would sorely miss them, if you would leave them at home. I therefore recommend bringing only the primes.

I would add the 135L for added reach and you'll be all set. These three primes will take care of most situations as well as allow you to shoot well into the night.

I think you would miss your 24L... When I went on my cruise, it seemed like everything on the ship was BIG, and my WA got a lot of use... Same with Cancun - if you take any day trips and visit the ruins or tidal fish ponds - you will want the WA... The skies and the clouds are vibrant - bring a CPL...

I think you would miss your 24L... When I went on my cruise, it seemed like everything on the ship was BIG, and my WA got a lot of use... Same with Cancun - if you take any day trips and visit the ruins or tidal fish ponds - you will want the WA... The skies and the clouds are vibrant - bring a CPL...

I will definitely bring my CPL's.

My A1000 IS sucks. It doesn't even have manual controls or Raw shooting. Maybe a used s95 or s100 or G12 to use with my 580EX II?

Jk lol. Based on your gear, Id probably bring just the 50mm. I like to travel light, and on a cruise I probably wouldnt be walking around much with the camera in my hands, so I'd value having a setup thats quick to pull out and shoot. Thats just me though.. I'd be scared to bring my 5d mkiii...